Stocking-top-cutting machine



PATENTED PEB. 9, 1904. P. W. ROBINSON.

STOGKING TOP CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16; 1903.

NO MODEL.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED FEB. 9, 1904.

F. W. ROBINSON.

STOOKING TOP CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I6, 1903.

N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

g 7, /:eA 30 l vo 423 1 vW-: 3rd-ffl., *"-zmgg .HI f 12/ Frank WIRUJ'HSUH 5mm/moz PATBNTBD PEB. 9, 1904.

I'. W. ROBINSON. STOCKING TOP CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1903.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL.

Frank WHabz'nsan @tto-amg.

DMW

WHA/woo@ No. 751,560. PATENTBD TBB. 9, 1904. T. W. ROBINSON, STOOKTNG TOP CUTTING MACHINE.

` APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1903.

N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

49kg) MM 4 f z Fra/1k W Hbjnsan 51400144143@ No. 751,560. Patented Februar-y o, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK W. ROBINSON, OF READING. PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR'OF ONE- HALF TO OSCAR B. VETHERHOLI), OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA.

. STOCKING-TOP-CUTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 751,560, dated February 9, 1904.

Application filed June 15, 1903, Serial No. 161,740. (No model.)

T Hf 107mm 7375 71W?! @0W/@WWII shown in the position indicated in Fig. 2. 50

Be it known that I, FRANK W. ROBINSON, a Figs. 8 and 9, Sheet l, l0, Sheet 2, and 1l and citizen of the United States of America, and l2, Sheet 3, are detail views.

a resident of Reading, in the county of Berks In the drawings, A represent-s a table suitand State of Pennsylvania, have invented cerably'supported on legs. l is the main drivtain new and useful Improvements in Stocking-shaft, mounted in bearings on the table, 55 ing-Top-Outting Machines, of which the foland may be driven either by hand or by power lowing is a specification. through fixed and loose pulley-wheels thereon.

My invention relates to an improved cutting- Upon this shaft l are mounted two gear-wheels 1o machine adapted especially for operatingupon 2and 3 and afced-roll 4C, suitably roughened or stocking tops or legs to separate each top succorrugated, if desired. Hung above said roll 60 cessively from the connected seriesin which 4 is a coperating feed-roll 5, held. in swinging they are commonly delivered from the knitarms 9 l0. Said arms are fixedly attached to ting-machine, the foot portion being therea shaft 7, mounted in posts c a, rising from after attached to each top or leg portion to table A, and the outer sections lO thereof are complete the stocking. This class of stockhinged at 8 to the main sections 9 to permit 65 ing-top is commonly formed with one or more the roll 5 to adjust itself to the thickness of ribs or welts near the upper end, and my mathe stocking-tops. A stop l1 positively limits chine is particularly arranged to operate upon the hinge movement in one direction, and

zo such tops, a rib-engaging device being prosprings 12, bearingagainst thesections lO, pervided in connection with additional feeding mit the latter to yield, so that the upper feed- 70 mechanism to insure the continuous automatic roll may adjust itself to varying thicknesses operation of cutting the tops at the proper of material passing between the rolls, while place. at all times insuring proper feeding-pressure rPhe main object of the invention is to inthereon. A catch 13, Figs. l and A, pivoted sure an accurate cut, while at the same time at la and operated by a lever l5, as hereinaf- 75 permitting the feeding of varied lengths and ter described, bears against the main section widths of stocking-tops without adjustment of the swinging arms and holds the rolls in of the machine. contact against the tension of a spring I6,

rPhe invention isfully described in connecadapted to normally raise saidroll. The geartion with the accompanying drawings, and the wheel 3 on main shaft l meshes with a gear- 8O novel features are particularly pointed out in wheel 17 on the shaft of roll 5, so as to rotate the claims. said roll in the opposite direction from the co- Figure l is aside elevation of amachine emoperating roll l to normally draw the inter- 3 5 bodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a central posed stocking-tops forward.

longitudinal elevation, the parts being indi- A second shaft 18, mounted beneath the ta- 8 5 cated in normal feeding position. Fig. 8 isa ble A, carries a mutilated gear-wheel 19, arreverse side elevation. Fig. 4 is a front eleranged to be engaged at the proper time with vation. Fig. is an enlarged view similar to gear-wheel 2 on shaft 1, as hereinafter de- 40 Fig. 2, showing the changed positions of the scribed. Upon this same shaftare alsomountparts while the knife is in the act of cutting' ed an idler-gear 2() and a cam 2l, shown on 90 olf a top. Fig. 6 is an enlarged view similar the opposite side of the machine. (See Fig. to Fig. 5, but showing the auxiliary feed-rolls This idler' 90 meshes with a gear-wheel l acting upon the connected tops to push the 22 on a shaft 23, suitably mounted in the ta- 4 5 same into the main feed-rolls immediately ble A and carrying an auxiliary semicylinafter ashearing action. Fig. 7 is a sectional drical feed-roll 24, Figs. 2 and Above this 95 plan View of the forward end of the machine, auxiliary roll 24, resting in spring-tension the parts above the plane of the table being bearings 25, is a similar coperating feed-roll cut away and the parts below said plane 26. These auxiliary feed-rolls 24 and 26 are caused to rotate together by gears 24L and 26, Fig. 3.

Upon the auxiliary feed-roll shaft 23 is a cam 27, set to operate lever 15 and catch 13, before described, to release the swinging arms 9 10 and permit the raising of the main feedroll by spring 16. A stop 28 and a spring 29 are arranged to limit the movement of the lever and return same and catch 13 to their normal positions, respectively, where said catch 13 is adapted to rengage the swinging arms 9 10 when the roll 5 is again lowered.

The shaft a carries a cam 30, Fig. 3, ar-

- ranged to engage a cam 7 a, fixed to the roll Avice against the tension of springs 45.

carrying shaft 7 to turn the latter and-.effect this relowering of the roll 5 at the proper time to its normal position relative to roll 4 and in engagement with the main shaft 1.

A fixed shearing-blade 31 is fastened to the table A by any suitable means and a movable blade 34 pivoted at 35 to the table and hav: ing a projecting end 36. Upon this projecting end is pivoted a bearing-face 37, which gives a self-adjusting contact-surface for the cam 21, mentioned before, to operate the shear-blade against the tension of a returningspring 38. A spring 39 keeps the shearing edges in proper contact.

In the table A is arranged a guideway 40, adapted to receive a sliding plate 41, which is normally pressed away from the knives by springs 42. Upon this slide-plate are rigidly mounted two posts 43, (see Fig. 5,) which carry a vertically-movable welt or rib engaging device 44, and springs 45, arranged to normally press said device downward against said said slide-plate, the upper face of which latter is provided with a transverse depression or groove 46 near its forward end, into which the lower edge of the rib-engaging device is adapted to press the stocking material which passes over said slide-plate to the feed-rolls 4 5, as hereinafter more fully described. An upward extension 47 of the rib-engaging device 44 carries a latch 47 a, adapted to be engaged by a lifting-lever 48, provided to raise theS'de ait lever 48 is pivoted to a bracket 47h, fixed to the posts au, and is arranged to be lifted b y the shearing-blade and fall with the downward movement of the latter. A bearing-ledge 48a is cut in the lever 48 to engage said latch 47, and a groove 50 is adapted to provide an escape for the latch from the ledge 4871 and the consequent return of the device 44 when the slide 41 is moved back to normal position.

The semicylindrical feed-roll 24 is provided at an intermediate-point of its length with a grooved cam-section 51, formed with a shoulder 52, adapted to engage a latch 53, pivotally hung from the slide-plate 41. This latch 53 is so set that the forward movement of the slide 41 turns the roll 24, (see Fig. 2,) which movement through gears 22 and 20 turns the mutilated gear 19 far enough for the gearwheel 2 to engage therewith, and thus complete the rotation of the auxiliary rolls 24 and 26t I have found that the gear-wheel 2 fails to properly mesh with the mutilated gear 19 at all times when thrown into engagement with the latter, the teeth of the wheels being' liable to lock and stall the machine. In order to insure their prompt and accurate engagement at any time, I have hinged the lirst tooth 54 of the mutilated gear and adapted it to sink into the wheel,if necessary, a spring 54EL pressing it outward into mesh as soon as the gears are in proper meshing position.

To give proper tension to the strips of connected tops fed to the knife, I have found it advantageous to employ a pivoted tensionweight 53, arranged to bear upon the passing strip, as shown in the drawings.

The operation of my improved machine above described is as follows: The strip of connected stocking tops (indicated by the dotted lines 55) is passed under the pivoted weight 53, through the auxiliary rolls 24 and 26, and under the rib-engaging device 44 to the feed-rolls 4 5, which grip the strip and draw it along. This entering of the strip may be best accomplished by turning the auxiliary feed-rolls 24 26 to the position 4indicated in Fig. 5 and then raising the rib-engaging de- 95 vice 44 to permit the easy passage of the iirst top to the feed-rolls 4 5. The auxiliary rolls are then returned to the position indicated in Fig. 2 and the machine started. The strip of connectedtops is then drawn through the machine,and each top,regardless of its length, is automatically cut off adjacent to a welt or ribV as follows:v WV hen a rib or welt 56 reaches the engaging device 44, its passage thereunder `is prevented,and the continued pull of the rolls 4 5 causes the device 44, and the slide 41, upon which it is mounted, to move forward toward the shearing-blades3l and 33 34. This forward movementgof the slide-plate causes the roll 24 to be rotated in the direction of the arrow by the pawl 53 sufficiently to cause the gear-wheel 2 to engage the mutilated gear 19, the pivoted cog 54 of which insures proper engagement, as already explained. The shaft 23 being now rotated, immediately the cam 27 (see Fig. 1) thereon, through the lever 15 and catch 13, releases the roll 5, which is raised by the spring 16, thereby stopping the pulling of the stocking-tops forward. The cam 21 on shaft 18, Figs. 3 and 4, now operates on the movable shearing-blade 33 34 to cut off the top in front thereof, Fig. 5. Upon the downward movement of the shearingblade by means of cam 21 the lifting-lever 48 for the rib-engaging device, which has been resting on the raised blade, falls, and when the blade is reraised by the spring 38 after the passage of said cam 21 it again raises this lever 48 and with it the rib-engaging device 44, the latch 47 a on the rod 47 of the moved-forward de- IOC IIO

vice 44 engaging the ledg'e 48"L of the lever 48, thus g'iving the adjacent rib .5G a free passag'e past said device. rlhe latter being' thus held in raised position, Fig. 6, the auxiliary feedrolls, which have been rotating, now engage and push forward the remaining strip of stocking-tops past thelnife and onto the feed-roll 4. Thecam on the shaft 25a (see Fig. 3) next lowers the roll 5 into engagement with roll 4 by turning' the shaft 'l' tln'ough the cam-wheel T,and the lever l5, with its catch 13, is moved by the spring' 29 to lock the roll 5 in this normal lowered position,where it coperates with the roll 4 to ag'ain draw the strip forward. The slide 4l and rib-engaging device 44 carried thereby are now the only parts out of normal position. This slide is held in forward position by the rolls 24 26, Fig. 6, which are still rotating; but as these rolls approach the position indicated in Fig. 2 the slide 41 is returned to its normal position by the springs 42, and the pawl 53 again assumes the position shown in Fig. 2. This return of the slide 4l carries with it the rib-engaging device 44 and its connected rod 47 and latch 47". rlhe latch 47L rides along the ledge 48 until it reaches the return-groove 50, when it is freed, and the rod 4T and connected device 44 fall by the action of springs and the parts are all again in normal position. By this time the mutilated gear 19 has made a revolution and again reached the position in which its mutilated portion is thrown out of engagement with the gear 2, and the main feed-rolls 4 5 are alone rotated to feed onward the strip of stocking-tops until another rib contacts with the engaging' device 44, and the operation is repeated.

The rib-eng'ag'ing device 44 not only controls the cutting-ofi' operation, as described, but it at the same time acts as a straightener for the welt or rib should the latter not be running true, so that an accurate and even cut at the proper place is assured. It will be easily seen that no adjustment of the machine is necessary to permit of the introduction of any width of stocking up to the capacity of the machine or to adapt it to any particular length of top, each cut being made accurately at a fixed distance from each welt or rib regardless of the spacing' of the latter. It will also be readily seen that many modifications of the particular construction described may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, and l do not desire to limit myself to this specific construction.

N hat I claim is4 l. A machine for cutting ribbed fabrics comprising a shearing mechanism, a feed mechanism in advance of said shearing mechanism, an auxiliary feed mechanism to the rear of the same, and rib-operated means for throwing said advance feed mechanism out of action.

2. A machine for cutting ribbed fabrics comprising a shearing mechanism, a feed mechthrow said auxiliary feed mechanism intermittently int-o action.

4. A machine for cutting ribbed fabrics comprising a shearing mechanism, a feed mechanism in advance of said shearing mechanism, an auxiliary feed mechanism to the rear of the same, a rib-engaging device arranged to throw said auxiliary feed mechanism intermittently into action, and means for throwing said advance feed mechanism out of action at such times.

5. A machine for cutting ribbed fabrics comprising a shearing mechanism, intermittent feed mechanism, and a spring-depressed rib-engaging device having a limited movement with the fabric and serving to clamp the same during each shearing action.

6. A machine for cutting ribbed fabrics comprising a shearing mechanism, intermittent feed mechanism, and a spring-depressed rib-engaging device having a limited movement with the fabric and serving to clamp the same during each shearing action, said device being' engaged and raised from the fabric by the return movement of the shearing-blade.

7. The combination with the shearingmechanism of main feed-rolls having one roll movable out of engagement with the other, and auxiliary segmental rolls.

8. A machine for cutting ribbed fabrics comprising a feed mechanism, a shearing mechanism, and a rib-engaging' device located adjacent to said shearing mechanism and arranged to control the cutting action of the latter upon a portion of the fabric adjoining the engaging rib.

9. A machine for cutting ribbed fabrics comprising a shearingmechanism, a feed mechanism comprising cooperating segmental rolls, an operating shaft intermittently in gear therewith, and a horizontally-movable rib-engaging' device carrying a pawl arranged to engage one of said segmental rolls and throw thesame into gear with the operating-shaft.

l0. The combination with the shearing mechanism of a pair of feed-rolls one of which is carried by a swinging' flexible arm, a spring for normally retracting said movable roll, and means for moving and holding the same in operative engagement with the other roll.

l1. The combination with the shearing mechanism of a pair of feed-rolls one of which is movable relative to the other,means for moving and holding the same in operative engagement with the other roll, and means for auto- TOO IIO

ISO

matically withdrawing the same preparatory to the shearing operation.

12. The combination with the shearing mechanism and feed mechanism of a verticallymovahle rib-engaging device carried by a h ori- Zontally-movahle slide-plate, a spring for normally pressing said device downward upon said slide-plate, and means operated by the shearing' mechanism for raising said device.

13. The combination with the shearing mechanism and feed mechanism of a verticallymovable rib-engaging device carried by ahorizontally-movahle slide-plate, a spring for normally pressing' said device downward upon said slide-plate, means operated by the shearing mechanism for raising said device. and means for moving said slide-plate rearwardly with the device in raised position and thereafter releasing' the same.

14. In a machine for cutting rihhed `fabrics the combination with segmental feed-rolls of a rib-engaging device carried hy a horizontally-movable slide-plate'arranged to control the operation of said rolls.

Signed at Reading, Pennsylvania, this 13th 25 day of June, 1908.

FRANK W. ROBINSON. Wfitnesses:

D. M. STEWART, WV. G. STEWART. 

